DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[Murtz]

Demolition Man

One of my all time favourites.. watched it again today on ITV. Still love every minute of it! Theres something about Sandra Bullock that grabs my attention!

[bAzTNM#1]

Had a fun packed week of filmsDouble Dragon - The MovieHave never got round to watching this, I remember seeing a trailer for it on either Bad Influence or Games Master years ago.Anyway it was on one of the dodgy movie channels on sky the other day and it was crap-tastic. The fact that they had they guy from Party of 5 as one of the brothers who seemed to have zero martial arts skills was just stupid casting, Their 2nd mistake was having Mark Dacacos and giving him some of the worst fights ever seen in an action flick, its sub Hero turtles! Oh and Robert Patrick as one of the gayest bad guys of all time. Still Alyssa Milano looks hot in it.

Movies4Men? Saw a wee bit of it, quite good.

[ukedge87]

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

 

I was really looking forward to watching this, having seen it on ITV as a child and being totally enticed by it at the time. However, watching it now as a film it doesn't quite work. There are plot holes so big you could drive double decker buses through them (the apes learnt to speak English! etc etc) and plain stupidity (Charlton Heston enjoying a nice fat cigar inside the air tight spaceship before it crashes being one of the worst). Its message of the consquence of our actions in the future and showing what it's like to be on the recieving end of a breed of creature that is totally ignorant and self-centred, is seriously weakened by Heston's final scenes in which he 'proves' humans were the smarter creatures all along (or at least attempts to). To be fair, the film is well paced, has some genuinely good ideas and the make up still holds up fairly well, but as anything more than a piece of silly sci-fi it fails.

 

There Will Be Blood

 

Went to see this at the cinema last night, and can say all the fuss being made about the film is justified. Really great movie, with Daniel Day-Lewis being on top form as usual (I don't think I've seen one film where at the end of the film I don't believe the character exists). The photography and soundtrack add to the brillant package, as the desolute landscape of dry America is juxtaposed by the thick, wet black oil spurts through the land and as corruption, false intentions, and lies flow just as thick. The film holds one of the most powerful scene I have seen at the cinema for a long, long time, using the unpredictable and 'beatless' nature of the script to lower the audience's guards. With an excellent cast, this is a masterpiece of a movie.

[Chest Rockwell]

I watched King of Kong last night.

 

This is a totally awesome documentary about one man's quest to be the world champ of the Donkey Kong arcade machine. Some really great characters in there. Bill Mitchell is a total ass, all his ass-kissers are cunts, and Walter is a total dick who is a bit nuts.

 

It was so hard watching Steve be so meek the whole time.. you really wanted him to stand up for himself.. SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read
Still anyone who watches this doc will know who the real champ is... Bill Mitchell is a cheating sumbitch! I see on the Twin Galaxies website that Bill Mitchell is the champ again, beating Steve's score by 1100 points. I'm sure he must be cheating, and even if he's not he's still to much of a pussy to play live... but shit, he's just the king of his little world and the whole dynamic is destroying Steve, who will never get any closure even though he must know that if he played Bill head to head he'd kick his ass..

 

I read after watching it that the South Park episode "More Crap" is loosely based on this.. I even thought while watching it that it reminded me of this ep. Will be rewatching this South Park ep soon so I can appreciate the satire and any little in-jokes they may have made

[Garrett]

The condemendNot bad. Austin is actually a pretty competent actor, and it was a decent action movie. I'm surprised this was the worst performing wwe movie at the box office, since it's probably the best of the bunch. Vinnie Jones was..well, Vinnie Jones. And the girl from neighbours was okay in the love interest role.

Edited March 14, 2008 by Garrett

[Almighty Rod]

Pan's Labyrinth

It looks beautiful visually and contains some fairly convincing acting performances. The stepfather in particular is fantastic and the story is a mixture of a touching tale and a confusing, dark caution.

 

Dazed And Confused

I'll confess that I didn't really know what to expect from this but I'm glad I gave it a chance. It's both funny and slightly touching at parts, however it doesn't really have a story per se.

 

A Scanner Darkly

I didn't know until after I watched this that it was the same director as in Dazed And Confused. This is totally different in that it's a complex and spiralling commentary on drug abuse and society. Fantastic performances from Robert Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson and it looks absolutely superb. The cell animation style is something that should be used again in the near future.

 

Juno

It was very funny and a lot better than I expected it to be. Kinda heartwarming but doesn't leave a huge lasting effect on me that I feel it really should have. The soundtrack is fantastic however.

Edited March 15, 2008 by Almighty Rod

[bAzTNM#1]

Just like to know your opinions on the film "Copland" with Stallone. I thought it was pretty underrated, in my opinion.Thanks.

Edited March 16, 2008 by bAzTNM

[The Cum Doctor]

I really liked Cop Land. Especially the utterly awesome climax.Pretty much can't get enough of it, and watch it whenever it's on. Don't know why I haven't got the DVD yet.

[Steveo2007]

Hostel Part II

 

Some really sick moments as are to be expected in this sort of film. Quite cringeworthy actually in some of the gore bits, I found myself holding my knackers and shuddering. Those who have seen it will sympathise.

 

Been getting a lot of Blu-Rays recently trying to replace my DVD collection, I have made a pact with myself this time that I will watch every Blu-Ray I buy and it's going well so far as I've seen films that I would usually buy and throw in my DVD draw.

 

Watched Blood Diamond on Sky yesterday, wasn't that impressed by it in all honesty.

[bAzTNM#1]

Hostel Part II Some really sick moments as are to be expected in this sort of film. Quite cringeworthy actually in some of the gore bits, I found myself holding my knackers and shuddering. Those who have seen it will sympathise.

SPOILERS

That bit with the shy woman being strung upside down and gutted was absolutely horribly scary. I nearly lost my dinner (I had the touch of the Flu at the time).

Horrible stuff.

Edited March 17, 2008 by bAzTNM

[DJ Stevie C]

I think it's a bad thing to admit but hey, I found Hostel II's gory bits, I had one 'woooaaahhh' moment (the previously mentioned crotch holding bit) but then collapsed into laughter. The bit mentioned with the woman... Again Laughter....Anyone want to come over for dinner this week?Ahem.Saw "No Country for old men" last night.I was really getting into the movie, the story was great and I found myself caught up in the characters, and then after almost two hours of building the story it suddenly seemed to fast forward to the end and I was left thinking "what the fuck!?" It's quite insane, they go for all this build up and then there's no payoff. Very odd.BTW I still think Vantage point is the Worst movie I've seen for a number of years.

[Mr. Seven]

Into The Wild

 

A confusing one this. Part of me was genuinely moved and inspired, the other part of me thought the guy was a cunt. First, the positives:

 

Emile Hirsch was tremendous, and deserves an awful lot of credit for throwing himself so deep into the role. Sean Penn's direction could have been a little leaner, but I was never bored and the film looked stunning. The supporting actors were all great too, and it's disgusting that Eddie Vedder was ignored at the Oscars, as his score lends an awful lot of power to the film.

 

As for the negatives...

 

If I didn't know the film was based on a true story, I'd have said it was extremely contrived and clich

[Murtz]

The Last King of ScotlandI watched this earlier today.. and I thought it was really really good. Forrest Whitaker's acting is top notch.. and there were parts in the film that were really gripping. Quality film.Has anyone seen 'There will be blood'?.. I've been wanting to watch if for a while now (mainly because Day Lewis is in it).. is it any good?

[DEF]

The Last King of ScotlandI watched this earlier today.. and I thought it was really really good. Forrest Whitaker's acting is top notch.. and there were parts in the film that were really gripping. Quality film.Has anyone seen 'There will be blood'?.. I've been wanting to watch if for a while now (mainly because Day Lewis is in it).. is it any good?

I think its a bit of a marmite movie. Its got a lot of acclaim so some people must like it, but I didn't. Danny Day Lewis IS awesome in it though, a very impressive performance. If the film was about an hr shorter and made the narrative solely around him trying to acquire the oil and power from the preacher character then I don't think I would have been left thinking what was the point? It reminded me of The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp but not nearly as engrossing. The beginning and build is very good mind its just eventually it goes nowhere. I was especially left cold by the ending which felt like they really started scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you do see it I'd like to know what you thought as like I said its getting a fair amount of praise but didn't hook me. I was really expecting something good from both the trailer and the praise but it wasn't half the story it should have been.

[ukedge87]

The Last King of ScotlandI watched this earlier today.. and I thought it was really really good. Forrest Whitaker's acting is top notch.. and there were parts in the film that were really gripping. Quality film.Has anyone seen 'There will be blood'?.. I've been wanting to watch if for a while now (mainly because Day Lewis is in it).. is it any good?

I think its a bit of a marmite movie. Its got a lot of acclaim so some people must like it, but I didn't. Danny Day Lewis IS awesome in it though, a very impressive performance. If the film was about an hr shorter and made the narrative solely around him trying to acquire the oil and power from the preacher character then I don't think I would have been left thinking what was the point?

But that is the point. Paul Thomas Anderson has decided he wants to make the film, to tell this graphic story, without the constraints of modern cinema. Instead the film is given a lot more freedom, outside of 'begining' 'middle' and 'climax' segmentation. You are taken on a trip, and just like a good book which moulds the words to it's narrative ignoring constraint, and the film is better for it. I watched Dallas Doll the other day, a Aussie flick released by Tartan over here. Utter shit. Really bad film, with Sandra Bernhard as the lead (putting on a brave face and not just going through the motions). However, the script and tone are both confused and your never sure whether something is farce or an attempt at complex emotions. The only redeeming feature, of sorts, is that it was Rose Byrne's screen debut.